The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-04-07

in which to live, and die, and triumph, come
into the ark. Know well that the door that
shut Noah in shut the world out; and though,
when the pitiless storm came peting on their
heads, they beat upon the door, saying:
LET me I'M let me imp the door did not open.
For l20 years they We're invited, They ex-
pected to come in; but the Antediluvians
said: "We must cultivate these fields;
We must DO worth more focks of
sheep and herds of cattle; we will wait
until we get little older; we will enjoy our
old farm little longer" But meanwhile
the storm was brewing. The fountains OF
heaven were filling up. The pry was being
placed beneath the foundations of the great
deep, The last year had come, the last month,
the last week, the last day. the last hour, the
last moment. In an awful dash, an ocean
dropped from the sky, and another rolled up
from beneath; and God rolled the earth and
sky into one wave of universal destruction.
So men now put off going into the ark.
They say they will wait twenty years first.
They will have a little longer time with their
worldly associates. They will wait until they
man of my attachments and of my position to
surrender myself just now. But before the
storm comes, | will 60 in. Yes, | will. l
know what am about Trust me,n After
awhile, one night about twelve o'clock, going
home, he passes scatfolding as II gust of wind
strikes il, and plank falls. DEATH and outside
the ark Or, riding in the park a reckless vehicle
crashes into him, and his horse becomes UNI
manageable, and he shouts, "Whoa! Whoa!"
and takes another twist in the reins, and
plants his feet against the dashboard, and
pulls back But no use. 1t is not so much
down the avenue that he flies as on the way
to eternity. Out of the wreck of the crash
his body is drawn, but his soul is
not picked up. 1t fled behind a
swifter courser into the great future.
Dead! and outside the ark! Or, some
night, he wakes up with q distress that
momentarily increases, until he shrieks out
with pain. The doctors come in, and they
give him twenty drops fifty drops, sixty
drops but no relief. Notime for prayer No
time to read one of the promises. No time to
get single sin pardoned. The whole house
is aroused in alarm. The children scream,
The wife faints. The pulses fail. The heart
stops. The soul flies. Oh, my God! deadl
and outside the ark!
people out of the ark. The world laughed to
see man go in, and said: Here is a man
starting for the ark Why, there will be no
deluge. If there is one, that miserable ship
will not weather it. Aha. going into the ark !!
Well, that is too good to keep Here, fellows,
have you heard the news2 This man is going
into the ark" Under this artillery of scorn
the mans good resolution persisted
And so there are hundreds kept out by the
fear of derision. The young man asks him
self: "What would they say at the store to-
morrow morning, if l should become Chris
tiani When go down to the clubhouse they
would shout: "Here comes that new Chris
tan. Suppose you are praying now. Get
down on your knees and let us hear you pray.
Come, now, give us touch. Will not do it,
Ell! Pretty Christian you are" Is it not the
IF tI,n&l -
the kingdom of Godl Which of these scorners
will kelp you at the last! When you lie down
on dying pillow, which of them will be
there! In the day of eternity, will they bail
you out?
My friends and neighbors, come in right
away. Come in through Christ, the wide
door-the door that swings out toward you.
Come in, and be saved. Come and be happy.
1.-THE Spirit and the Bride say, Come" Room
in the ark! Room in the ark
But do not come alone. The text invites
you to bring your family. "Comc thou and
all thou house" That means your wife and
your children. You cannot drive them in.
If Noah had tried to drive the pigeons and
the doves into the ark, he would only have
scattered them. Some parents are not wise
about these things. They make iron Jules about
Sabbaths, and they force the catechism down
the throat, as they would hold the child's nose
and force down dose of rhubarb and calomel.
You cannot drive your children into the ark.
You can draw your children to Christ, but
you cannot coerce them. The cross was
lifted, not to drive, but to draw. ''If be
lifted up will draw all men unto me.' As
the sun draws up the drops of morning dew,
so the Sun of Righteousness exhales the tears
of repentance.
"Come thou and all thy house into the ark y
Be sure that you bring your husband and
wife with you. How would Noah have felt
if, when he heard the rain pattering on the
roof of the ark he knew that his wife was
outside in the storm? No; she went with
him. And yet some OF you are on the ship
outward bound" for heaven, but your com
panion is unsheltered. You remember when
the marriage-ring was set. Nothing has yet
been able to break it. Sickness came. and
the finger shrank but the ring staid on. The
twain stood alone above a child's grave, and
the dark mouth of the tomb swallowed up q
thousand hopes but the ring dropped not
into the open grave Days of poverty came
and the hand did many hard days work
but the rubbing of the work against the
ring only made it shine brighter. Shall that
ring ever be lost! Will the iron clang of the
sepulchre- gate crush it forever? l pray God
that you who have been marred on earth may
be together in heaven. Oh! by the quiet bliss
of your earthly home; by the babes cradle
by all the vows of that day when you started
life together s beg you to see to it that you
Come in, and bring your wife or your hus.
band with you-not by fretting about re-
lgion, or ding -donging them about religion
but by a consistent life, and by compelling
prayer that shall bring the throne of God
down into your bedroom. Better live in the
smallest house in Brooklyn and get into heaven
than live fifty years in the finest house on
Madison Square, and wake up at last and
find that one of you, for all eternity, is out
side the ark Go home tonight; lock the
door of your room; take up the Bible anc
read it together, and then kneel down and
commend your souls to Him who has watched
you all these years; and, before you rise
there will be fluttering Of wings over your
head angel crying to angel: "Behold they
prayw
But this does not include all your family
Bring the children too. God bless the deal
children What would our homes be with
out them? We may have done much fol
them. They have done more for us. VIVA
q salve FOR wounded heart there is in the soft
palm of a child's hand! Did harp or flute
ever have such music as there is in a child.
goodnight" From our coarse, rough hfe the
angels of God are often driven back; but who
comes into the nursery without feeling that
angels are lowering around! They who die
in infancy go into glory, but you are expect
ing your children to grow up in this world
Is it not question, then, that rings through
all the corridors, and windings, and heights
and depths of your soul, what is to be
come of your sons and daughters for tim,
and for eternity. "O!" you say, ~ meal
to see that they have good manners. VERY we'll
81 mean to dress them well, if have myself t.
go shabby Very good. 81 shall give them al
education, and / shall leave them fortune
Very well But is that all9 Don't you meal
to take them into the arkl Don't you know
that the storm is coming and that out o
Christ there is no safety! no pardon? no hope
no heavenl
How to get them in9 Go in yourself. /
Noah had staid out, do you not suppose tina
his sons Shem, Ham, and Japhet, would hav
staid outs Your sons and daughters will b,
apt to do just as you do. Reject Christ your
self. and the probability is that your children
will reject Him.
An account was taken of the religious con
dition of families in a certain district. In the
families of pous parents, two-thirds of thu
children were Christians. In the familie
where the parents We're ungodly, only one
twelfth of the children were Christians. Re
sponsble as you are for their temporal exist
ence, you are also responsible for their eteI
nifty Which way will you take them! Gu
into the deluge, or into the arkl Have 20